There Are Risks In Only Appealing To Limited Areas
As is always the case, the Electoral College punishes the candidate that appeals to a limited region of the country. If you look at the electoral map, you can see that Bush succeeded in winning states in every region. Without Florida, Gore has no states in the South or the Mountain West. Again--no accident. The Electoral College is doing just what it is designed to do.
Popular Vote Vs State Vote
A state's electors is equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives. So each state has 2 more votes than its proportionate population. When the popular vote is so close, the number of STATES won becomes decisive. Gov. Bush won 30 states (60%), Vice-President Gore won 20 and DC. Those 10 extra states in the Bush column convert to 25 additional electoral votes, which is the winning margin for Gov. Bush. Is it fair? No less fair than the U.S. Senate, which gives every state 2 Senators regardless of its population.
In the 2000 election, the popular vote went one way, but the state vote went the other way, in landslide proportions! And it is only due to the state landslide that Gov. Bush had a chance. If Vice-President Gore had won in Florida, he would have won the Presidency having carried the lowest percentage of states (42%) of any President in U.S. history. Kennedy carried 46% of the states in 1960 and Carter carried 47% in 1976.